


all i can taste is this moment (no angst)

by owl_system



Category: IT Crowd
Genre: (Maybe? Idk), Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Happy Ending, Kissing, Light Angst, M/M, Two Endings, alcohol mention, but who's surprised, fake dating au, i'm a walking cliche what can i say
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:48:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25345690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/owl_system/pseuds/owl_system
Summary: roy has a reunion and doesn't want to look even more pathetic than he thinks he is already. who knows where the evening will go?
Relationships: Maurice Moss/Roy Trenneman
Comments: 7
Kudos: 22





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hey! i typed this out earlier and didn't have enough time to get to the angsty spot, so i finished it sooner with a quick fluffy ending. whenever i have time, i'll type up the original ending and post a second update, but i liked the new fluff enough to post it! title is from the song iris by the goo goo dolls. ~max

“jeeeeeeeeen?” roy called, leaning across his desk. “jeeeeen?” jen flung her office door open with a pissed off sigh. “what do you want, roy?” she snapped. trying his best to appear persuasive, roy looked up at jen with wide eyes. “are you doing anything this saturday?” jen rolled her eyes. “i’m not interested.”  
“no, no, i’m not asking you on a date, jen!” looking slightly offended at the incredulity in roy’s voice, jen asked, “what do you want then?” roy took a deep breath, preparing to be laughed at. “i want you to go on a pretend date with me.” jen exploded in laughter. “oh, tell me you’re joking.”  
“please, jen! i’ve got a school reunion and i can’t let them know i’m still single! i’ll pay you?” still laughing, jen returned to her office. “why don’t you find another woman to go with you?” as jen shut her door, roy collapsed back over his desk. “you’re the only one i know!”

when moss came back from lunch, he found roy slouched over his desk, pen hovering over a piece of paper with jen’s name scribbled at the top. “roy, why have you written jen’s name there?” roy jumped. “i’m writing a list of all the women my age that don’t hate me.” moss blinked. “but you’ve only written jen.” roy threw his pen. “i know! i’ve got a school reunion on saturday, and everyone’s going to know i’m pathetic and single!” feeling defeated, roy flopped back into his chair. until an idea began to form. “moss,” he started cautiously, “are you doing anything on saturday?” moss eyed roy strangely. “no, but you’ve got your school reunion, remember?” sighing, roy rolled his eyes. “yes, moss. i’m- i’m asking if you want to come with me.” the puzzle pieces started to fit together in moss’ mind. “as your date?” roy sighed again. “i suppose.” after considering the proposal for a moment, moss agreed. “why not?”

~~~

“hey, roy!” roy’s school friends yelled as he came up to their table, holding moss’ hand. he’d hoped they would arrive a little early to go over some ground rules, but hadn’t found time (and, you know, forgot), so hoped that moss’ limited social skills would be at their strongest and he’d get through the night with a little dignity. after everyone had been introduced and ordered their drinks (“for the love of god don’t get milk,” roy had whispered to moss), the main question was asked. “how’d you two meet?” this, thankfully, they had prepared a little for. moss was truly awful at lying, so they stuck to the simplest story they could think of- the story of their friendship with a couple romantic elements- and decided roy would do as much of the talking as possible. which went fairly well...

until someone started raising doubts. first, one of roy’s friends, chelsea, and her husband made some offhand comment about roy and moss’ lack of pda beside the other couples there. for a little while, this could be explained by the fear of homophobia and the fact that they weren’t really that into pda anyway, but soon roy realised that people weren’t quite buying it.

roy pulled moss away to a corner of the bar after muttering some half-assed excuse and whispered, “we need to sell this better. they don’t believe us.” moss blinked at roy for a moment before replying, “alright. would this help?” without further warning, moss shoved roy against the wall and connected their lips, even more passionately than he had against that garage. though it was dulled by their surroundings and the alcohol tripping both of their tongues, roy couldn’t deny the feelings translating through moss’ kiss, mirroring those he’d been hiding for years. moss pulled away, about to speak again, but roy just grabbed him by the tie he’d insisted on wearing and reconnected their lips. the explanation could wait. roy needed this now.


	2. all i can taste is this moment (light angst_

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the original ending of this fic, involving a longer ending with a touch of angst, though it ends happily! title is from iris by the goo goo dolls.

all i can taste is this moment

“jeeeeeeeeen?” roy called, leaning across his desk. “jeeeeen?” jen flung her office door open with a pissed off sigh. “what do you want, roy?” she snapped. trying his best to appear persuasive, roy looked up at jen with wide eyes. “are you doing anything this saturday?” jen rolled her eyes. “i’m not interested.”  
“no, no, i’m not asking you on a date, jen!” looking slightly offended at the incredulity in roy’s voice, jen asked, “what do you want then?” roy took a deep breath, preparing to be laughed at. “i want you to go on a pretend date with me.” jen exploded in laughter. “oh, tell me you’re joking.”  
“please, jen! i’ve got a school reunion and i can’t let them know i’m still single! i’ll pay you?” still laughing, jen returned to her office. “why don’t you find another woman to go with you?” as jen shut her door, roy collapsed back over his desk. “you’re the only one i know!”

when moss came back from lunch, he found roy slouched over his desk, pen hovering over a piece of paper with jen’s name scribbled at the top. “roy, why have you written jen’s name there?” roy jumped. “i’m writing a list of all the women my age that don’t hate me.” moss blinked. “but you’ve only written jen.” roy threw his pen. “i know! i’ve got a school reunion on saturday, and everyone’s going to know i’m pathetic and single!” feeling defeated, roy flopped back into his chair. until an idea began to form. “moss,” he started cautiously, “are you doing anything on saturday?” moss eyed roy strangely. “no, but you’ve got your school reunion, remember?” sighing, roy rolled his eyes. “yes, moss. i’m- i’m asking if you want to come with me.” the puzzle pieces started to fit together in moss’ mind. “as your date?” roy sighed again. “i suppose.” after considering the proposal for a moment, moss agreed. “why not?”

~~~

“hey, roy!” roy’s school friends yelled as he came up to their table, holding moss’ hand. he’d hoped they would arrive a little early to go over some ground rules, but hadn’t found time (and, you know, forgot), so hoped that moss’ limited social skills would be at their strongest and he’d get through the night with a little dignity. after everyone had been introduced and ordered their drinks (“for the love of god don’t get milk,” roy had whispered to moss), the main question was asked. “how’d you two meet?” this, thankfully, they had prepared a little for. moss was truly awful at lying, so they stuck to the simplest story they could think of- the story of their friendship with a couple romantic elements- and decided roy would do as much of the talking as possible. which went fairly well...

until someone started raising doubts. first, one of roy’s friends, chelsea, and her husband made some offhand comment about roy and moss’ lack of pda beside the other couples there. for a little while, this could be explained by the fear of homophobia and the fact that they weren’t really that into pda anyway, but soon roy realised that people weren’t quite buying it.

roy pulled moss away to a corner of the bar after muttering some half-assed excuse and whispered, “we need to sell this better. they don’t believe us.” moss blinked at roy for a moment before replying, “alright. would this help?” without further warning, moss shoved roy against the wall and connected their lips, even more passionately than he had against that garage. roy’s train of thought hit a wall. he’d been waiting for this to happen again since the incident outside the garage, and though he knew it meant nothing again, he tried to just let himself enjoy the kiss. but he couldn’t lie to himself that well. roy shoved moss (gently, of course) off of him and escaped in the direction of the nearest bathroom. after a brief pause to gather himself, moss followed.

“roy? what’s wrong?” moss asked, infuriatingly innocent, when the bathroom door had swung shut behind him. “what’s wrong, moss?” roy snapped, hands twisting in his own hair until it hurt. “i can’t do this any more! this whole thing with you and the looks and the kissing!” confused, moss just blinked at him. “what are you talking about?”  
“this! everything you do, you don’t even know that i love you!” fuck. roy had planned to keep that little fact secret, but he couldn’t control himself enough to lock his heart up. wearing the same face he always did when he didn’t believe what he was hearing, as if this wasn’t even a little more earth-shattering than anything else, moss asked, “what did you say?” not wanting to repeat himself, roy muttered, “i said that i love you. you can leave if you want, i understand.” moss just stared, still not understanding roy. “why would i want to leave? that’s a good thing.” roy eyed his best friend incredulously. “on what planet is it a good thing that i’m stupidly in love with my best friend who definitely doesn’t feel the same way?” moss actually took a step back, as if the statement had physically caught him off guard. “what are you talking about? i thought you knew i loved you but didn’t feel the same?” roy didn’t even breathe as he processed the sentence. “how the fuck would i have known that?” but even as he said it, roy pieced everything together. all the things he thought moss had been doing out of sheer obliviousness to his best friend’s more than platonic feelings had actually been his own wordless declaration. “oh.” he said softly. laughing at their mutual blindness, the two joined in a finally truthful kiss, not masked by pretences or hidden feelings. “i suppose we should return to your friends,” moss suggested when they reluctantly separated. roy shrugged, taking moss’ hands. “or we could sneak out and go back to my place?”


End file.
